Lauren Myracle Tops Most Frequently Challenged Book List

Lauren Myracle (pictured at an ALA advocacy rally) has been singled out as the chart-topper on 2009’s top 10 most frequently challenged books. Her Internet Girls series have spawned a writer in many “un-fans” as she calls them. Myracle receives at least 10 “un-fanmail” pieces per day. She’s been accused of satanism, pedophilia, and youth corruption.

in a Guardian article, Myracle took issue when one media figure described these “un-fans” as “prudish, small-minded, and self-righteous, and they need to get over it.” She doesn’t want to install an “us versus them dichotomy.” The author explained that she respects everybody’s individual moral compass, and if that includes an inclination to disliking her books, then okay.

Myracle wrote: “Grown-ups who care about what kids read aren’t the enemy. Name-calling isn’t going to get us anywhere. My goal, lofty as it is, is to be a bridge, not a fence. So when angry adults approach me about the ‘wrongness’ of my books, I try not to bristle, and I try not to make fun of them. I’m pretty good at the first; I’m still working on the second. I try instead to initiate a conversation about books and age-appropriateness and selection processes. About the importance of intellectual freedom.”

Joining Myracle for the first time is Twilight Saga author Stephenie Meyer who shows up at #5 on the list. The late-J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye showed up one notch down at #6. Despite being “the most banned books of the decade”, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series hasn’t appeared on a top 10 list since 2003.